Luciano Spalletti shared his thoughts after Juventus’ commanding 3–0 victory against Napoli, a win that reinforced the Bianconeri’s title credentials and highlighted once again the team’s balance and spirit. Speaking to DAZN, the Juventus manager analysed his side’s performance and praised several individual players, including David, Locatelli, and Yildiz.
On the Match and Locatelli
“The way they approached the match, the way they stayed on the pitch for 90 minutes — even when they were out of breath, they didn’t dive into tackles but still tried to stay compact in our half — that shows awareness of their own strength,” Spalletti explained. “That awareness allows you to become what you want. Apart from some backward passes at the start of the second half, we always looked to play vertically, and I liked that.”
He added: “What’s fundamental in football now is to make the players protagonists and to bring their individual style of play into every position. Being too precise and repetitive helps opponents identify their personal duels. You need to explore new things — in that dynamism, balance is essential, and Locatelli is brilliant at this. He senses when adjustments are needed. Defensively we’re tough in coverage, and Kelly is free to go forward because he has great potential. It’s beautiful to watch, and there’s more joy in being able to choose who you are in that moment of play. You need intelligent balance, order within chaos — and they’re doing it well. The difference is always their quality: Locatelli goes to the edge of the box and pulls off a backheel assist that sends a teammate through on goal — that’s the kind of play that gives satisfaction.”
On Yildiz: “He’s Not a Normal Footballer”
The Juventus boss once again reserved high praise for youngster Kenan Yildiz, who scored and played as a forward. “Yildiz played as a striker and scored,” Spalletti said. “And he’s an alien — he’s not a normal footballer. Sometimes he deliberately makes a mistake just to see if he can fit into normality, but he can’t. He can’t become a normal player.”
On the Striker Situation
Spalletti also addressed Juventus’ attacking situation and discussed whether the team still needs another forward. “A new striker? I don’t care much about that,” he said. “David is very strong inside the penalty area when it comes to finishing — he did well because there aren’t free spaces, they’re spaces you have to tear away. He knows that. Then there’s the kind of forward like Højlund, who drops deep and makes the ball playable when it’s fired at him — we don’t have that type. David is great for scoring goals, but beyond that, we also need someone who can wrestle with the central defender. For scoring, David is enough, but for that kind of work, we need a striker — we don’t have one in this squad.”
“David is extremely strong, but he doesn’t know how to do that particular job. If the team keeps defending well and David keeps scoring the way he’s doing, we’ll still have our head above water — we’ll breathe and be perfect. It’s not that he’s the best when he scores and the worst when he doesn’t; there are different phases.”
